~ a blog about my loves and travel adventures

Category Archives: France

January 7, 2014: This past year has been a whirlwind to say the least. In the past year I moved to England and back, received a MA in Museum Studies, and have begun the transition into the “real world.”

The next few posts that I will write will be a look back over this past year’s travels and some of my favorite memories. Hopefully something new and exciting will happen soon, but until then, enjoy the next few blog posts where I catch up on all of the blogging I haven’t done since this summer…

Exploring Paris, France–February 2013:

Paris is still definitely one of my favorite cities in the world. The beauty, romance and different culture of Paris are some of the reasons I think I am drawn to the city. I can also definitely tell you that my unhealthy fascination with Marie Antoinette is another reason I love Paris. Here is a quick snapshot of some of my favorite pictures I took whilst on that fantastic adventure to Paris last February.

I hope that you enjoyed the first blog of my trip down memory lane to the best year I have had so far!

P.S., in case you didn’t know, we took Megabus from Leicester to Paris (12 HOURS in a bus to get there…but obviously it was completely worth it). We took the train home.

Saturday, 9 February 2012: Our last day in Paris was spent perusing through the Musee du Louvre (please do think of that being said by a person who is very posh with a French accent, sneering down their nose as they say it…that’s what I think of every time). Thankfully, that was not the encounter we had at the Louvre. Every single staff member we spoke to (which was about every 30 minutes because we kept getting lost) was so nice!

Obviously, the museum was fantastic. I mean, it’s the Louvre, so how could it not be?

Highlights of the Louvre:

The really awesome Egyptian artifacts, especially the ceramic hippos, and obviously, the Mona Lisa. I loved all of the sculptures, especially the Italian, Greek and Roman ones, but I really loved seeing the Michelangelo gallery. I loved the Middle Eastern artwork. The intricacy of some of the pieces in that gallery was astounding and breath-taking. I also loved being completely surprised when I walked into a room and saw a painting or a work of art that I had studied and I had forgotten it was in the Louvre. So, I pretty much loved the entire time we were there.

Friday, 8 February 2013: Bonjour!Today was the day I have dreamed of for years.

I got to go to Versailles and walk through the palace and the grounds!

It was truly a dream come true! I must admit, I am weirdly obsessed with Marie Antoinette, so naturally I was completely psyched to go to Versailles for an entire day!

Favorite rooms in Versailles: Hall of Mirrors (duh), Peace Room, Chapel Royal (we heard a man PLAY the ORGAN in the chapel!!! I totally freaked out), and Marie Antoinette’s bedroom.

I also completely loved Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon and all of the grounds (the other outhouse buildings like the theatre and farm house were closed…boo).

Basically, if you haven’t been able to tell yet, I literally loved every minute of that day.

Naturally, I told all of the random facts and stories I knew about Marie Antoinette, Versailles, Louis XVI, other French monarchs, etc. all day…I was like a kid in a candy store.

To make it even better, we got to eat lunch in Versailles (in one of the rooms!!!!) I don’t think I can convey to anyone HOW COOL I THINK THAT IS!

BAHHHHHH. Amazing.

Words cannot describe how happy I was to be there and how fortunate I was that the first time I visited Versailles was in the off-season so there were not a lot of people there!

I am still on cloud nine.

To top off a perfect day, we visited Chinatown for the Chinese New Year and of course ate at a fantastic Chinese food restaurant! It was some of the best food I have ever had. We ate at Delices ShanDong. I highly recommend anything on the menu! We tried “Intestins de porc aromatisé” (flavored pork intestines)–yes I have officially tried pig intestines and they were delicious! We also tried the dumplings and some other food (none of us are sure what I ordered since the menu was in French but mine looked like orange chicken in the picture but was way better!) Basically, if you have time, go to l’Hopital boulevard and go to this restaurant in the 13th district. It is fantastic.